The Leap Day Trio featuring WSU Jazz Arts Ensemble 1
Featuring Jeff Lederer, Mimi Jones, & Matt Wilson
Jazz Fest Day 3
In the fall of 2019 my dear friend, Jimmy Katz, contacted me with an intriguing proposal. For those of you who don’t know, Jimmy is a celebrated jazz photographer who has shot many iconic photos of musicians over the past 30 years. In addition to his artistry as a photographer, Jimmy has also become quite the recording engineer and his vibe is to capture music live and in the moment- much like a photograph.
The Cafe Bohemia, a celebrated Greenwich Village jazz haunt from 1955-60, had recently reopened. Many classic live recordings were made there by Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham and Charles Mingus among numerous others. The Miles Davis Quintet made it their NYC home, the famous photograph of Miles Davis on the cover of ‘Round About Midnight was taken on the stage. The red hue of the photo came from a red light that was above the bandstand. Also for you crazy jazz nuts, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley was visiting New York from Florida in the June of 1955, sat in with Oscar Pettiford’s band and, as they say, the rest is history.
So, Jimmy’s proposal was for me to gather a band and make the first new live recording of the new Cafe Bohemia. I loved the idea and enthusiastically accepted the challenge. I called my buddy and frequent collaborator, Jeff Lederer, about the idea. Over the years, we have exchanged many phone calls with wacky ideas and you know what? A majority have come to fruition. Our mantra is, “That’s a terrible idea. What time?”
About Matt Wilson
Few musicians embody the spontaneous energy of jazz quite like Matt Wilson, who was recently named 2018 Musician of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. The New York-based drummer combines buoyant zeal, idiosyncratic style, infectious humor, joyous swing and an indomitable spirit of surprise, making him one of the most in-demand players and educators on the modern jazz scene. He leads many distinctive ensembles: the Matt Wilson Quartet, Arts & Crafts, Honey and Salt, Big Happy Family, Topsy Turvy and the Christmas Tree-O.
With his two most recent recordings, Wilson has achieved the very rare feat of receiving two consecutive 5-star (masterpiece) reviews from DownBeat magazine. His latest album, Honey and Salt (Music Inspired by the Poetry of Carl Sandburg), was chosen as the 2018 Record of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association and also received 5-star reviews from three separate All About Jazz writers, Irish Times and Diariofolk. The recording, his thirteenth as a leader for Palmetto, has also been recognized on over thirty “Best Of“ lists, including The Top Ten Recordings of 2017 lists by NPR, JazzTimes, Boston Globe, DownBeat, Jazziz, Cadence, Irish Times, Just Jazz, Stem Tempest and numerous other publications.
Wilson’s impressive discography numbers more than 400 CDs, including releases by his co-led trios Sifter and Trio M. He has performed with such luminaries as Dewey Redman, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Chris Potter, Paul Bley, Elvis Costello, Lee Konitz, Geri Allen, Andrew Hill, Jane Ira Bloom, Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, Marshall Allen, Joanne Brackeen, John Zorn, Cecil McBee, Paquito D’ Rivera, Ray Anderson, Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, Candido, Buster Williams, Sheila Jordan, Gary Peacock, Kenny Barron, John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Hubert Laws, George Cables, Denny Zeitlin and many others.
Matt has been featured on the covers of DownBeat, JazzTimes, Modern Drummer, JazzEd, JazzTimes Educational Supplement, Jazziz, The New York City Jazz Record, Hot House and Coda magazines. He was voted Drummer of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2003 and 2011 and he topped the “Rising Star Drummer” category in DownBeat’s Critics Poll for five consecutive years, among numerous other accolades, including a 2011 Grammy nomination. In demand as an educator, he’s led workshops and master classes around the world and is on faculty at the New School, SUNY Purchase, San Francisco Conservatory, Sarah Lawrence College and Prins Claus Conservatory in Groningen, Holland.
About Jeff Lederer
Jeff is a saxophonist/clarinetist and composer/arranger whose work crosses the lines of Jazz, Afro-Caribbean and New music.. He leads ensembles including the “Shakers n’ Bakers”, “Sunwatcher”, and the “Brooklyn Blowhards” . Mr. Lederer also plays in the groups of Matt Wilson, Bobby Sanabria, Allison Miller, Jimmy Bosch and many others.
As a composer/arranger, Mr. Lederer’s largest work to date is “Los Sazones”, a Salsa re-working of the Vivaldi Four Seasons concertos, commissioned by the Ravinia Festival for the Chicago Symphony that went on to tour extensively with many major orchestras including the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl. Lederer was recently named as a “Musician to Watch in 2017” by JazzWise magazine in London. In the fall of 2017 Lederer served as artist-in-residence at the Guimaraes, Portugal Jazz Festival. Lederer continues to be active as a composer/arranger and created arrangements consecutively for the 2018 and 2019 Jazz Journalist Association’s “Albums of the Year” (Matt Wilson’s “Honey and Salt” and Bobby Sanabria’s “West Side Story Reimagined” which was also Grammy-nominated). Lederer is currently serving as Director of Jazz Studies and Music Technology, Entrepreneurship and Production at Long Island University in New York.
Jeff Lederer’s newest release on his own Little (i) Music label is “Eightfold Path” with his group Sunwatcher. The Sunwatcher Quartet first recorded in 2010 with Jamie Saft (pno/organ) Buster Williams (bass) and Matt Wilson (drums). “Eightfold Path” is the 2020 follow up recording featuring Jeff with special guest Steve Swallow (bass) in eight compositions based on aspects of Buddhist Dharma. Little (i) Music was founded in 2005 by Lederer in order to produce and release music from his own large output, as well as that of his close artistic circle, focusing on the nexus of new jazz/improvised music and diverse spiritual traditions. The Label has 13 releases to date.
About Mimi Jones
For the more than two decades she’s been on the scene, bassist/vocalist/producer/label owner and now filmmaker Mimi Jones has reigned supreme, as a side woman to an impressive coterie of musicians and as a leader with three CDs on her own label, (Hot Tone Music) featuring the Mimi Jones Band.
Her newest release for the label, Feet in the Mud, is her most powerful, recording to date. “Feet in the Mud refers to being true to one’s own self despite your race, age, gender, size etcetera,” Jones says.
Jones is supported by an engaging and ingenious collection of musicians including pianist Jon Cowherd, drummer Jonathan Barber, and saxophonist Samir Zarif.
Born in New York City of parents from Barbados, and raised in the Bronx, Jones is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music Conservatory and she has studied with Lisle Atkinson, Ron Carter, Linda McKnight, Milton Hinton and others.
She has toured extensively throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean Islands and is recognized as a U.S. Jazz Ambassador. Her vast work as a side woman includes gigs with Kenny Barron, Frank Ocean, Dianne Reeves, Tia Fuller, Ingrid Jensen, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marc Cary, Toshi Reagon, Rachel Z, Sean Jones, Ravi Coltrane,and Terri Lyne Carrington’sGrammy Award winning Mosaic Project.
Jones also serves as co-director with ArcoIris Sandoval of The D.O.M.E. Experience, a multimedia project created to inspire its audience to become aware of environmental and social issues, within the community and globally through choreography, composition and cinematography.
About Jazz Arts Ensemble 1
The Jazz Arts Ensemble 1 is a traditional 17-piece big band jazz ensemble selected each year through an audition process. WSU's Jazz Arts Ensembles are part of the Jazz Studies curriculum, and the ensembles present two on-campus concerts each semester. The Jazz Arts Ensembles may also perform at public and private functions throughout the Wichita community, and for WSU special events. Jazz Arts has consistently been selected to perform at state, regional and national conferences, and festivals and has performed with notable guest artists. The repertoire of the ensemble consists of high-level arrangements of varying styles, including swing, Latin, rock, and pop charts, as well as new compositions. The Jazz Arts Ensembles welcome the opportunity to work with arrangers and composers on new projects.
Jazz Fest Pass!
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